Transport

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Smooth traffic flow as one of the most important

factors for safety increase in road transport

Alica Kalašová & Milan Stacho

To cite this article: Alica Kalašová & Milan Stacho (2006) Smooth traffic flow as one of the most
important factors for safety increase in road transport, Transport, 21:1, 29-33

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/16484142.2006.9638037

Published online: 27 Oct 2010.

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 29

ISSN 1648-4142 print / ISSN 1648-3480 online TRANSPORT

www.transport.vtu.lt

TRANSPORT – 2006, Vol XXI, No 1, 29–33

SMOOTH TRAFFIC FLOW AS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTORS FOR

SAFETY INCREASE IN ROAD TRANSPORT
Alica Kalaðová1, Milan Stacho2
Department of Road and Urban Transport, Faculty of Operation and Economics
of Transport and Communications, University of Þilina
E-mail: 1 Alica.Kalasova@fpedas.utc.sk; 2 Milan. Stacho@fpedas.utc.sk
Received 10 November 2005; accepted 4 January 2006

Abstract. The elimination of the connection between the increase of transport and economical growth has been
the main aim of transport policy of the EU for a few years, which has not been accomplished yet. The volume of
transport in the EU has been growing at more or less the same rate as economy or more, by nearly 20 % with
passenger transport and by approximately 30 % with freight transport haulage. Transportation causes consider-
able external costs that although have got concrete originators, are not paid by them. The biggest external costs
are connected with emissions, noise, accidents and congestions. In our contribution we would like to characterize
congestions and possible solutions.
Keywords: external costs, traffic flows, intelligent transportation systems (ITS), ITS technologies, communica-
tion systems.

1. Introduction are not met by the parties responsible, they must be

One of the most significant factors affecting the
increase of road transport safety is the reduction of
external costs. External costs are described as follows.
When consumers decide to purchase an item or
take a trip, they examine the price of a given option
and compare it to the gain or satisfaction they expect
to derive from the item or trip. For instance, an indi-
vidual wishing to get from A to B will consider the
price (use of public transport or his/her private car)
and the quality of the service provided before choos-
ing a given transport mode. Users are willing to ac-
commodate a whole array of parameters (speed, fre-
quent/regular service, quality, flexibility, etc.) in the
transport price they pay.
Conversely, consumers of goods or services do
not generally foot the full bill of the costs their deci-
sion imposes on society and environment. Such costs
are defined as external because they are not reflected
in the price paid by users and are not factors in the
market. The main sources of external costs in the
transport sector are accidents, congestion, air pollu-
tion, noise and climate change. Individuals using a
given form of transport are not generally aware of the
external costs generated and indeed it is possible that
some of these costs have never been defined.
Nonetheless, external costs do exist and since they
borne by society as a whole [1].
üSignificant external costs are: accidents, when
transport systems are used, accidents occur generat-
ing a whole range of costs which are only partly cov-
ered by mutual risk insurance schemes (loss of life,
medical care and disabilities sustained by victims, loss
of production, etc.),
üair pollution, emission of particulate matter,
carbon monoxide, lead, volatile organic compounds,
nitrogen oxides and sulphur dioxide, damaging
health, environment and buildings,
üclimate change, greenhouse gases (mainly car-
bon dioxide – CO2) have an enduring impact on the
earth’s climate resulting in increased desertification,
raised sea levels, serious harm to agriculture and
other destructive environmental and health-related
side-effect,
ünoise, transport generates noise which ad-
versely affects humans in a variety of ways causing
disturbances, stress and more serious health prob-
lems,
ücongestion, more vehicles are being added to
already dense traffic flows, particularly car traffic
flows, paralyzing the system and leading to substan-
tial wastage for all users. Congestion makes the en-
tire transport system inefficient.
In our contribution we would like to analyze the
30 A. Kalaðová, M. Stacho / TRANSPORT – 2006, Vol XXI, No 1, 29–33
problem of congestions which currently bother driv-
ers in the EU and their reduction is one of the priori-
ties of the EU’s transport policy.
2. Impact of congestions on safety
An individual highway crash is a rare, random,
multifactor event preceded by a situation in which
one or more persons failed to cope with their envi-
ronment. In the aggregate, however, traffic crashes
are quite numerous and often follow certain patterns
that can be identified. Crashes reflect a shortcoming
in one or more components of the driver-vehicle-
roadway system. It is therefore very important for
freeway practitioners to monitor traffic collision ex-
perience and to use this information to identify, plan,
implement, and evaluate corrective actions. Numer-
ous approaches exist for improving safety and reduc-
ing crashes on highways. Many of these are beyond
the scope of freeway management and operations,
per se (e.g., enforcing seat belt laws, in-vehicle crash-
avoidance technologies, geometric realignment); but
others – such as improved signing and lighting, skid
resistance pavement, adding shoulders and auxiliary
lanes, and removing obstacles – are well within the
realm of “operations”.
As previously noted, a major goal of freeway
management and operations is to reduce congestion;
and a reduction in congestion may also enhance
safety. But how does congestion affect highway
safety? The basic theory behind the interaction is
that congestion leads to higher vehicle densities (i.e.,
more closely spaced vehicles on a roadway), which
provides more opportunities for conflict. Conges-
tion also reduces vehicle speeds, which implies that
when vehicles are engaged in a crash, the collision
forces are lower thus reducing the injury to occu-
pants. Another aspect of the model is the concept
of “secondary” crashes – crashes that occur due to
conditions produced by an existing crash. Some of
these conditions – which wouldn’t exist without the
occurrence of the first crash – include rapid back-
ward queue formation (as vehicles suddenly stop to
avoid the first crash), rubbernecking by drivers, and
the manoeuvres of emergency vehicles. Finally, the
Generalized relationships among speed, density and flows rate on uninterrupted – flows facilities
Fig 1. Basic traffic service
flow restrictions produced by crashes worsen exist-
ing congestion.
The details of the relationship between conges-
tion and safety are not well understood (with the ex-
ception of lower crash severities which have been
documented in a general way for congested condi-
tions and the associated lower speeds). Based on the
limited work that has been performed, a few tenta-
tive conclusions may be drawn:
üCrash potential probably increases as conges-
tion increases.
üThere is a lower proportion of single vehicle
crashes (e.g., run-off-road, rollover, collision with a
fixed object) during congested conditions and a
higher proportion of multiple vehicle crashes.
üCrash severities (extent and nature of personal
injuries) are lower during congested conditions due to
lower vehicle speeds at the moment of crash impact.
In general, it can be assumed that any operational
improvement that reduces congestion will lead to
fewer crashes. The severity of crashes that occur will
be higher, however, and it is likely that a greater pro-
portion will be single vehicle crashes. Knowing these
facts target mitigation strategies can single vehicle
crashes and higher severities – such as wider road-
side recovery zones, protection of highway “furni-
ture,” and coordination with emergency medical ser-
vices. Moreover, operations philosophy must take a
systems-oriented view where the consequences of a
specific action (e.g., flow improvements) consider
linked impacts such as safety.
3. Traffic flow theory
The generalized relationships between speed,
density and flow rate are shown in Fig 1, with these
parameters defined as follows [2].
üFlow Rate – the equivalent hourly rate (ve-
hicles per hour) at which vehicles pass over a given
point or section of a lane or roadway during a given
time interval of less than one hour.
üSpeed – defined as a rate of motion expressed
as distance per unit of time, generally as kilometre
per hour (km/h). In characterizing the speed of a traf-
fic stream, a representative value must be used be-
 A. Kalaðová, M. Stacho / TRANSPORT – 2006, Vol XXI, No 1, 29–33
cause broad distribution of individual speeds is ob-
servable in the traffic stream. The curves in Fig 1 uti-
lize “average travel speed” which is computed by di-
viding the length of the highway segment under con-
sideration by the average travel time of the vehicles
traversing it.
üDensity – the number of vehicles occupying
the given length of a lane or roadway at a particular
instant. For the curves shown in Fig 1density is aver-
aged over time and is usually expressed as vehicles
per hour (veh/h).
The form of these curves depends on the pre-
vailing traffic and roadway conditions on the segment
under study. Moreover, while the diagrams in Fig 1-
6 show continuous curves; in reality they are like
discontinuities with a part of these curves not present.
The curves illustrate the following significant points.
üA zero flow rate occurs under two different
conditions. One is when there are no vehicles on the
facility – the density is zero, and the flow rate is zero.
The second is when density becomes so high that all
vehicles must stop – the speed is zero, and the flow
rate is zero, because there is no movement and ve-
hicles cannot pass a point on the roadway.
üBetween these two extreme points the dynam-
ics of traffic flow produces a maximizing effect. As
flow increases from zero, density also increases, since
more vehicles are on the roadway. When this hap-
pens, speed declines because of the interaction of
vehicles. This decline is negligible at low and medium
densities and flow rates. As the density further in-
creases, these generalized curves suggest that speed
decreases significantly just before the capacity is
achieved, with the capacity being defined as the prod-
uct of density and speed resulting in the maximum
flow rate. This condition is shown as optimum speed
Vo (often called critical speed), optimum density Mo
(sometimes referred to as critical density), and maxi-
mum flow Vm.
Efficient freeway operation depends on the bal-
ance between capacity and demand. In the simplest
terms, highway congestion results when traffic de-
mand approaches or exceeds the available capacity
of the highway system. As vehicle demand approaches
highway capacity, traffic flow begins to deteriorate.
Flow is interrupted by spots of turbulence and shock
waves which disrupt efficiency. Then traffic flow be-
gins to break down rapidly followed by further dete-
rioration of operational efficiency. The result of this
spiralling inefficiency can be observed during every
weekday commute in almost every metropolitan area.
Drivers push their way onto already crowded free-
ways to join thousands of others already caught in
seemingly endless traffic jams. Unfortunately, by join-
ing the already impeded traffic flow, drivers become
31
a part of the problem, creating even greater ineffi-
ciencies: more stop-and-go traffic conditions, longer
delays and greater potential for accidents.
While this is a simple concept, traffic demand is
not constant. It can vary significantly depending on
the season of the year, the day of the week, and even
the time of the day. Also, the capacity is not a con-
stant – it can change (sometimes rapidly) because of
weather, work zones, traffic incidents, or other events.
It is not necessarily simple, either. The physical fact
of finiteness and the principle of conservation underly
traffic stream behaviour as reflected in the smooth
curves in Fig 1. However, the actual performance of
a particular section of a freeway at a particular point
of time is more ambiguous, resulting from variations
in individual human behaviour and the mix of vehicle
types using the facility. It may be possible to predict
the average behaviour and average capacity and the
variances about these averages for a traffic stream,
but never the precise behaviour.
The principles of macroscopic models are rela-
tions between the essential characteristics of a traffic
flow – intensity, density (quantitative characteristics)
and speed (a qualitative characteristic). For complete
description only two of these characteristics are suf-
ficient, the third one can be calculated according to
the continuity equation:
M = H.V.
4. Resolving of congestions using intelligent trans-
portation systems
One of the possible ways of increasing safety is
to provide the participants of traffic with information
in advance. Conditions for steady and safe traffic are
made in this way. Intelligent transport systems – ITS
are able to give us this possibility. Basic aim of ITS is
to [3, 4]:
üIncrease the safety of road transport.
üIncrease the efficiency of transport repre-
sented by cut down transport time.
üIncrease the quality of environment.
üImprove commercial productivity of a company.
ITS are systems which help to make efficient use
of road and urban communication network using in-
formation, communication and directing technolo-
gies. They make basic conditions for high quality com-
munication and information society that we are ap-
proaching also in our conditions.
Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) are the
application of advanced electronics, computer, com-
munications and sensor technologies – in an inte-
grated manner – to increase the efficiency and safety
32 A. Kalaðová, M. Stacho / TRANSPORT – 2006, Vol XXI, No 1, 29–33
of the surface transportation network. ITS encom-
pass technologies that can lead to:
üBetter management and operations of the ex-
isting highway, public transportation and railroad in-
frastructure to ease congestion and respond to crises.
üSafer and more convenient travel for people.
üMore efficient and secure freight movements.
Effectively used ITS open the door to new ways
of managing, operating, expanding, refining,
reconfiguring and use of transportation system. ITS
have proven themselves as a significant enabler of
freeway management and operations. Combined with
ITS technologies:
Freeway Management System (FMS) consists of
a set of resources (e.g., electronic systems, people,
objects, and strategies) that are used to accomplish a
set of goals to improve the operation of the freeway
network. Other elements of an ITS-based freeway
management system that support these functions in-
clude:
Surveillance and Detection Systems These de-
vices collect information on traffic flow and road-
way performance and allow operators to monitor
conditions (in real time) on the freeway system. The
sensors may collect data (volume, speed, travel
time), or provide video images via cameras. The data
collected feed the control and information dissemi-
nation functions and allow operators to intervene
when appropriate into those functions. The data may
also be stored (i.e., warehoused) for future analysis
and performance evaluation. Sensor technology also
allows the system to monitor roadway and environ-
mental conditions such as pavement temperature
and weather. Roadway and environmental condition
information is often used in deciding how best to
allocate resources for functions such as snow and
ice control.
Transportation Management Centre. The com-
puter systems and associated software, the user in-
terfaces and operators themselves and associated re-
sources are typically housed and operated from a traf-
fic management centre although they can also be op-
erated over a communication network without the
need of a formal centre. In systems that include TMC,
it serves as the information “nerve centre” for re-
gional operations.
Communication Systems. The effective opera-
tion of all the functions mentioned above requires
communication of data, video, and voice. Communi-
cation systems transmit data and video from the field
to TMC or central location, transmit commands from
TMC or central location to the field equipment, trans-
mit information among agencies, distribute traveller
information to the systems that disseminate it and
allow personnel at any distance to communicate with
one another.
From the point of view of ITS applications, po-
sitioning systems are among leading systems and de-
serve close attention. Considerable time and finan-
cial cut down should be pointed out. In this connec-
tion we should emphasize the necessity of creating
uniform infrastructure of data gathering and distri-
bution, creating a central system providing with cur-
rent data from the given length of communications.
This should be remembered while implementing
master systems.
Global Navigation Satellite Systems. One of the
most important technologies of ITS is satellite navi-
gation which could influence the reduction of con-
gestions.
At present there are two radio navigation satel-
lite networks: the US GPS and the Russian Glonass
systems, both designed during the Cold War for mili-
tary purposes. Since the Russian system has not gen-
erated any civil applications, Galileo offers a real al-
ternative to the de facto monopoly of GPS and the
US industry. GPS is used to a large extent for civil
purposes, but it does have several major shortco-
mings:
üMediocre and varying position accuracy
(sometimes to only several dozen metres), depend-
ing on place and time.
üReliability leaves something to be desired.
Regions at high latitudes crossed by many aviation
routes do not have dependable coverage. Signal pen-
etration in dense areas and town centres is unreli-
able. Furthermore, the predominantly military char-
acter of GPS means that there is always a risk of civil
users being cut off in the event of a crisis.
Whether intentional or otherwise, signal inter-
ruptions can have disastrous consequences, especially
as there is no warning and no immediate informa-
tion about errors [3].
There have been signal cut-offs of a few minutes
during GPS operation, which lead the system pro-
vider to the adaptation to civil needs and the neces-
sity of standards development for the utilization of
satellite navigation in civil aviation. If these standards
meet aviation demands they will suit also other us-
ers. Standard and recommended procedures – SARP,
which are focused on accuracy, integrity and time to
alery, continuity and availability, have been passed.
These standards lead to the building of augmen-
tation systems such as American WAAS (wide area
augmentation system), Japanese MSAS (MTSAT sat-
ellite augmentation system), European services
EGNOS (European geostationary navigation over-
lay service) and even probably Chinese satellite sys-
tem Beidou [3].
 A. Kalaðová, M. Stacho / TRANSPORT – 2006, Vol XXI, No 1, 29–33 33

Inspire of these standards they are only services
based on originally military GPS of Glonass satellite
systems.
The European Union (EU) therefore decided,
in close cooperation with the European Space Agency
(ESA), to develop a system of its own that meets the
criteria for accuracy, reliability and security.
Galileo comprises a constellation of 30 satellites
divided between three circular orbits at an altitude
of around 24 000 km to cover the earth’s entity sur-
face. They will be supported by a worldwide network
of ground stations.
Galileo offers superior and constant accuracy
thanks in particular to the structure of its satellite
constellation and a ground relay system. Guaranteed
accuracy to 1 m is necessary for certain applications
such as entering a seaport or guiding a vehicle into
parking space.
gestion and speed the recovery from congestion,
therefore minimizing the inefficiencies that conges-
tion causes.
References
1. Schreyer, Ch.; Schneider, Ch. External costs of transport
update study, International Railway Union, October 2004,
Paris. ISBN 2-7461-0891-7.
2. Kalašová, A.; Stacho, M. Decrease in congestions is one of
the most important factors for increase in safety in road
transport. In: Modern Safety Technologies in Transporta-
tion, 2005, Košice. ISBN 80-969106-1-2.
3. Kevický, D. – Kalašová, A. Satelite navigation system,
EDIS – vydavate¾stvo ÞU, 2004. ISBN 80-8070-295-0
(in Slovak).
4. European Commision, ESA: GALILEO Mission High Level
Definition, September 2002.

5. Conclusion

In the conclusion we would like to emphasize

that:
üAny definition needs to be understandable to
the general public or to the elected officials to be
useful. Congestion occurs and is caused by bottle-
necks. All other mechanisms for describing traffic
flow are related to measures of effectiveness.
üThe speed-flow relationship is fundamental to
traffic theory.
üA metrics for congestion is total trip time at
posted speeds compared to total trip time at operat-
ing speed and an accompanying index for setting ser-
vice standards.”
üTransportation congestion has local, cultural
and time-of-duration components that defy strict ter-
minology.
üCongestion will always be relative.
With respect to the last point, congestion is typi-
cally viewed by travellers relative to their normal day-
to-day experiences. Travellers accustomed to low
speeds and congestion delays for 12 hours each day
may not consider 10 minutes of delay per trip a prob-
lem. These travellers have learned to budget extra
time or find other ways to cope with the delay.
A major goal of freeway management and op-
erations is to keep freeway capacity and the vehicu-
lar demand on a freeway in balance. The most effec-
tive way to combat congestion is to take action be-
fore traffic flow deteriorates and congestion forms.
It would be ideal to manage the demand on the free-
way to prevent traffic flow from ever breaking down
and congestion from forming. This is usually not pos-
sible and the best result is to delay the onset of con-